Billionaire businessman Femi Otedola has made serious allegations regarding the siphoning of over N2 trillion through questionable petrol subsidy claims during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. He asserts that depot licenses were the primary channel for this abuse, with the entire system deliberately structured to benefit depot owners, who became the main beneficiaries, fostering rent-seeking and corruption rather than transparency or innovation. Otedola revealed that he personally warned President Jonathan about being misled by this flawed system.

These revelations come amid an ongoing public dispute where Otedola has firmly sided with the Dangote Petroleum Refinery against the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN). On September 16, DAPPMAN accused the Dangote Refinery of engaging in market-disruptive practices, claiming its recent fuel price cuts were intended to weaken competition rather than serve the national interest. In response, the refinery countered that DAPPMAN had allegedly demanded an annual subsidy of N1.5 trillion to enable its members to match Dangote’s gantry prices at their depots. Otedola vehemently rejected this demand, stating there was no justification for Dangote Refinery to subsidize DAPPMAN, especially since the era of Petroleum Equalization Fund (PFI) payments from NNPC for depots is over.

Otedola also challenged the widely held "myth" that fuel depots generate substantial employment. He argued that a typical depot employs a minimal workforce, perhaps no more than five individuals including the gatekeeper, starkly contrasting with filling stations that provide jobs for dozens of Nigerians, ranging from pump attendants and cashiers to security personnel and cleaners. He emphasized that depots had primarily been set up to collect PFIs when NNPC was the sole supplier of gasoline.

Furthermore, Otedola urged DAPPMAN members to abandon what he described as obsolete facilities and an outdated business model that no longer aligns with Nigeria’s current economic realities. He, who founded DAPPMAN in 2002 to challenge major oil marketers, now believes the association has outlived its usefulness. He drew a parallel with the cement industry, where bulk carriers became redundant once Nigeria achieved local cement production, predicting a similar fate for fuel depots. Otedola warned that if DAPPMAN members fail to adapt by selling, restructuring, or investing in new value chains, they risk becoming irrelevant and potentially bankrupt.

To demonstrate a genuine belief in competition, Otedola challenged DAPPMAN members to pool their resources and acquire the Port Harcourt refinery, attempting to succeed where the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had previously failed. He also praised President Bola Tinubu for his courageous act of full deregulation, which he believes has broken the grip of entrenched interests in the oil sector and ushered in a new era of transparency, healthy competition, and customer-centric service delivery. Otedola concluded by stating that Zenon Oil had pioneered the modern diesel business in Nigeria by building depots for imported diesel, but with Dangote’s refinery fully operational, local production now ensures efficient, reliable, and proudly Nigerian supply, making the old import-driven infrastructure redundant.